Penny Wong to Warn China Against Bullying, Caution on Strait of Hormuz Weaponization

Penny Wong will warn China that Australia and other neighbouring nations will not be bullied by its “provocative” actions, after its involvement in another “destabilising and dangerous” incident this week.

The foreign affairs minister – who will deliver the address on Thursday in the Philippines, where the 59th Asean foreign minister’s meeting is being held – will also caution world leaders against placing a toll on the strait of Hormuz after both Iran and the US threatened to do amid the protracted conflict.

The speech comes as the crisis in the Middle East escalates once again, driving up fuel prices by 40 cents in three weeks amid dwindling global oil reserves.

Off the back of China’s launch of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile in the South China Sea earlier in July, Wong will say the test “came with too little information and notification”.

“It comes in the context of China’s rapid military buildup, including of its nuclear arsenal, without the transparency or reassurance the region expects,” the foreign minister will say.

“Which is why Australia has described the test as provocative and destabilising.”

Wong met with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of Asean on Tuesday night AEST in their 12th meeting.

Wong had earlier criticised China’s conduct as “destabilising and dangerous” after the Philippine military accused the China Coast Guard of clubbing a Filipino sailor with a baton on Monday on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

“We will continue to register our concerns about China’s vessels engaging in destabilising and dangerous conduct in the South China Sea, including towards Philippine, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Indonesian vessels,” Wong will say on Thursday.

China’s long-range missile test in the South Pacific happened just hours after Australia signed a defence agreement with Fiji, inciting widespread condemnation. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, expressed concern at the missile’s long-range capabilities and the possibility to cause “considerable, considerable damage were it to be weaponised”.

In Manila, Wong will also warn the region will suffer if the strait of Hormuz is “weaponised” and the US and Iran fail to maintain a ceasefire.

Heavy strikes have resumed between the warring nations with the US launching consecutive rounds on Iran in an attempt to force the strait’s reopening.

Iran’s president on Tuesday said the country is in a “full-scale war” after the US expanded its aerial campaign and Tehran struck Washington’s Gulf allies. The Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen have also announced a blockade of Saudi ports.

The renewed outbreak of fighting has sent the international Brent crude benchmark surging by 23% over the past two weeks and back within reach of $US90 a barrel.

The surge in cost has pushed diesel above 220 cents per litre and petrol above 187 cents in some Australian cities. Luke Yeaman, the Commonwealth Bank chief economist, has predicted the federal government may have to restore the fuel excise discount back to 32 cents.

Wong will tell the audience much of the region was fuel- and energy-dependent on the strait of Hormuz, presenting a “grave challenge”.

“Across south-east Asia, energy prices have spiked, costs for families and businesses increased, and we continue to see ongoing pressure on food production,” Wong will say.

“The strait of Hormuz shows what we in this region have always understood. That people suffer when a strait is weaponised. And we all know that the costs of tolls on any chokepoint would not be solely economic.

“Our people depend on straits and sea lanes remaining open.”

Wong will tell Asean nations their assistance in plugging Australia’s supply and trade gaps during the conflict is for the region’s benefit.

“Because what goes to Australia as fuel and fertiliser comes back to the region as food,” she will say.